This blog provides updated forecasts and comments on current weather or other topics

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Boring Weather

The media loves to highlight extreme and exciting weather, but they have missed a critical opportunity: to describe perhaps the most important extreme of all-- extremely boring weather.

Where in the U.S. are folks experiencing the same, dull weather, day after day? How dull can it get?

You won't find coverage of this topic on CNN or your local news channel, but this blog pushes the envelope on such important matters.

The first stop in our boring weather tour will be Los Angeles, where the high temperature of the PAST SEVEN DAYS has been either 70 or 71F! And the peak winds have have hardly varied in speed and direction. Dullsville.

Or San Diego the last week. A real snooze, with highs of 72 or 73F each day, no rain, no nothing.

But if there was an Olympics of weather boredom, we need to look closer to home, where the gold medal of weather uneventfulness goes to North Bend, Oregon, where the average temperatures over the PAST MONTH have ranged from 58 to 62F, and the max temps from 63-68F.

This is pretty bad....but surely the forecast suggests some excitement for the good folks of North Bend! Here is the latest prediction from the Weather Channel. Yikes! The highs range from 62 to 66, partly cloudy every day, with a 10-20% chance of drizzle!

You ask why is the weather so BORING over the West Coast during summer?

The answer is clear...we have a cool Pacific Ocean offshore that doesn't change temperature much. Onshore flow of marine air at low levels. The jet stream and weather disturbances are far to the north. High pressure offshore and few thunderstorms. A deadly period of meteorologists...

Just noting something, you said "North Bend, Oregon, where the max temperatures over the PAST MONTH have ranged from 58 to 62F", but according to your table, those were the average temperatures that ranged from 58-62F. The high/max temperatures ranged from 63-68F. Hardly better though.

Hooray for North Bend! haha. I had family that lived there (well Coos Bay, but they're next door) and I'm pretty sure they would even describe it as boring.

But boring weather is actually what made me a little tired of Hawaii. I was there during an El Nino year. THAT is boring. Go back and look at the weather for Honolulu in January-February of 2010. Highs were constant, lows were constant, and the El Nino cut off most of the trade winds which took away even the daily "slight chance of afternoon showers"

Cliff. Would you be so kind to comment on this? Im not a climate scientist and would appreciate the assessment of a professional, "When It Rains, It Pours Global Warming and the Increase in Extreme Precipitation from 1948 to 2011." Thanks, Donhttp://www.environmentamerica.org/sites/environment/files/reports/When%20It%20Rains%2C%20It%20Pours%20vUS.pdf

Fixed Carbon, Their return time analysis is probably ok. The problem is they ascribe the trend to human-induced global warming without any evidence for this...a huge leap of faith. Remember this is an advocacy group, NOT a scientific group. ...cliff

Hi Cliff,I noticed in today's forecast discussion the term "thermal trough" predicted for Saturday. I hope you can explain that term, especially as it relates to this weekend's weather. My understanding is that it will lead to very warm weather. I am curious as to how clear it will be on Saturday (and if the trough will play a part). We have had some very nice days in Seattle lately, but many of the mountains (where I like to spend my time) have been obscured by clouds.

We know with great certainty that CO2 levels have risen. And temperature as well. We know with less certainty that this has increased evaporation and the water vapor content of the atmosphere due to these factors.

One thing I've noticed about living in San Diego (now for a year, after over a decade in Seattle), you become REALLY sensitive to the slightest change in temperature, wind, humidity, etc. Kind of a fascinating and unforeseen result of living here. Which is pretty doggone nice.And if we want more "excitement" we are still on the West Coast and can head North. So glad to be on the West Coast, either way!